Propaganda

Gentrify

Watsky

Kill a Hipster ft. Chinaka Hodge

NSFW

If you haven’t spun Bishop Dready Manning’s record from us yet, you’re really missing out. The guy’s got all the soul, personality and authenticity you’d want in a blues and gospel man. If you have been dropping your needle onto it and love what you hear, we just want to make sure none of you forget the great work Music Maker Relief Foundation—the group that put this stellar album out—does every single day.10% of all proceeds made from Manning’s album goes to the foundation but we hope your own contributions to their mission go beyond just that. At their core, the foundation is about preserving and delivering living history—namely, the voices of the people most responsible for keeping America’s musical bedrock alive. Lord knows, as each day just gets crazier, it’s good to anchor ourselves in our roots—those sorts of anchors are exactly what Music Maker want to get into your hands.

The nonprofit puts out a lot of great blues—if you liked Manning, make sure to check out some of their other great artists in this vein like Cora Mae Bryant and Jahue Rory—but it doesn’t stop with just that genre. Maybe you like your blues more plugged in, in which case you should give Ironing Board Sam and Robert Lee Coleman a listen. Or maybe you want some more outright gospel music—go for The Branchettes and The Glorifying Vines Sisters then. Or perhaps you’re after some legitimate Native American songcraft; they’ve got that too with Pura Fe and The Deer Clan Singers.

Their catalogue goes far deeper than any of those recommendations too. You could spend hours sampling and buying the music this nonprofit qua label puts out and still have a near endless reservoir to dip into. But then again, that’s sort of the beauty of the art Music Maker traffics in. The traditions they keep alive are the sort you just can’t get tired of. The blues may follow a pretty ironclad structure but it comes alive in new ways depending on who’s playing it.

The foundation actively seeks out these sorts of artists, long after many labels probably have an unspoken policy of ignoring them. Once it gets a hold of them, they make sure to promote their music and pay it forward too. They help them perform for people who don’t usually get to see live music, give their artist monthly stipends for food, medical care and housing, and provide free access to music and musical education to those who can’t afford it. Long story short: they’re an all-around national treasure.

So if you enjoyed this month’s record, consider showing your appreciation to the people who made it possible. There are a lot of ways to do so. You can donate directly to the foundation—maybe even set up a monthly recurring donation, if you really love what they do. Buying their beautiful records—inside and out—is another great way to help out with their work. They’re always on the lookout for volunteers too!

We hope you’re enjoying Bishop Dready Manning’s album enough to give back to these guys! They’re doing great work and we hope you think so too!

I was struck by the conclusion of Jason Isbell’s feature in GQ last week. ‘I don’t believe all music is good,’ he remarked. ‘I believe some music is bad for people to listen to. I think it makes their taste worse, I think it makes their lives worse, I think it makes them worse people.’ I’d argue that this new wave of songs that use Jesus as little more than a cultural bumper sticker are exactly that kind of bad music. They cheapen faith and wildness alike, and they make both seem less attractive. If you’re going to sing, sing boldly.

Those are convicting words. I truly believe most musicians don’t intend to cheapen their art by playing to the crowd, and in a time when the listener is over-indulging in $.99 singles, it is hard to blame them.

If you are interested in hearing some very honest, and hauntingly beautiful, country music by someone who as gone out of his way to keep his integrity intact, check out John T. Pearson. His album “Last Of The Country Gentlemen” was released in 2011.

The times have changed. Long gone are the days of soap box preachers warning against the dangers of Rock ‘n’ Roll. It is now the atheist who needs a watchful eye, careful not to indulge in the sweet sounds of “Christian Rock.” This Craigslist ad that we stumbled across speaks for itself so read on and enjoy.

After hearing the final fading notes of their set from a urinal in Tucson’s Hotel Congress, I decided to give this mystery band a chance and bought their entire discography (because the Hotel Congress is cool, so they must book cool bands right?)

The album art was gorgeous and it felt pretty good traveling home with a stack of fresh vinyl (plus one CD). I was hoping for treasure, but would have been ok with less.

Upon my return, I set the first disk on the turntable and began unpacking in the next room. From what I could hear it was kind of ok…a sort of psychedelic rock sound with unintelligible vocals. Unintelligible until I began to pick out the words, “King, King of Kings…” repeated over and over. “What is this?” I thought and went to the living room for a closer listen.

Sure enough those were the words.

I picked up the record sleeve and found lyrics printed inside.

OK so I was wrong. It was actually “King O King” (like Fillet-O-Fish), but anyway, WTF? (See attached image of liner notes).

It dawned on me then that in my effort to give some unknown but seemingly rad group a chance, I had inadvertently purchased the entire discography (or at least everything available at the merch table that night) of a Christian rock band.

I am decidedly non-Christian. In fact, I am sure that all religion is nonsense.

If you feel differently and would like to taint your mind with mediocre musical delusions (wrapped in admittedly beautiful cover art), drop me a line and I’ll place these somewhere discreet so you don’t have to be embarrassed when you pick them up.

If you are wondering about Wovenhand, you can check them out here. David Eugene Edwards is an amazing artist who, ironically, has a predominantly non-Christian following. He also wouldn’t call his music “Christian Rock.”